Ales Yauseenka: Just a Riot

Electricity runs through the air in the country.

This spring Homel unexpectedly manifested itself as the center of large-scale protests against Decree No. 3. Rallies, perhaps, were as numerous as in Minsk. And now ill-fated decree on "spongers" revives on October 1 again.

What are sentiments in the most protest regions of spring-2017? Charter97.org addressed this question to the chairman of the Belarusian National Congress in Homel Ales Yauseenka.

- As expected, Decree No. 3 returns. It is supplemented with Lukashenka's comments "take a shovel and rush to work". What is the reaction of people?

- You know, I am an ordinary person. I have also faced challenges and I talk to and live among people like me.

And I can say one thing for sure - the situation in the country is really stressful.

All ways to obtain the truth and justice in courts and at peaceful protest actions are blocked. The futher it goes, the deeper the gap of misunderstanding between the people and the power is. Bureaucrats are accustomed to ignoring any demands of people. They first write formal replies and then cynically offer to "go to court". As if we do not understand who's going to lose the game! And people just miss money to pay a fee.

Therefore, the situation is becoming more and more thrilling. And people come up with the most desparate thoughts. I don't know how to express them correctly...

A riot is maturing. You know, if the authorities do not want to listen to peaceful protests, people are ready to explode. I am speaking about Homel, because I am aware of the situation and sentiments here. The situation reminds me of the air before the storm: problems accumulate, the authority is not able to solve them and people are ready to take the most decisive masures.

A lot of things happened here: an employee of Comintern set herself on fire at the clockhouse, in Asipovichy a person jumped out of a window after the first edition of the decree on "spongers".

I'm afraid that the authorities do not listen to the voice of reason, consequences will be unpredictable after the second edition of the decree. Because the latent aggression of the people is simply colossal. It is extremely hard to predict what it may result in. We insist on peaceful and non-violent protests.

- I remember that even at spring actions the authorities were offered negotiations with angry people, and the idea of a "round table" was in the air. Are the authorities wise enough to listen to the people this time?

- I hope so. However, this spring their behavior was at least weird. People came to them to negotiate problems. But collective appeals and visits to the bureaucracy ended with nothing.

Here is some vivid example: people of a Homel private sector, Yaroslavskaya Street, wanted to have their problems solved and addressed the authorities. In response several vehicles arrive there and block the street, like it happened in the 90s. But there are officials not gangsters in cars now.

One car - one official. People were shocked: what is such luxury for? What was their message? That they are "cool"guys and people mean nothing? It is clear that people were very outraged. In addition, this "delegation" did not solve any specific issues. They arrived to show off. It can serve as a test case: the authority lives in a separate world, does not listen to the people.

- As for the "separate world": I often hear Lukashenka's and ministers' statements about some "achievements", and various misterious figures are given... Do these statements have something in common with reality? How does the real life look like?

- This is a pure cynicism and insult to the people. What "indicators" they can mention, if prices are growing and people have no money to send their children to school. They have to take loans. Is this a "social" state?!

They can make any kind of nonsense meet a "scientific platform" in their "statistics": ideology and propaganda work. But this has nothing to do with the real life.

Even Homel, the city with the population of 600 thousands, has enterprises and companies closed down. There is a joke among entrepreneurs: entrance costs a ruble, exit - two. First people are driven to bankruptcy with inspections and sanctions and later required enormous payments to close business. So companies do not work and cannot be closed down. Hence the situation when there are more unemployed people than statistics shows.

This year my acquaintances have had a rest in Odessa, Ukraine. They traveled by trains from Chernigiv. A foreign child there was given a discount of 50%. And what prices are in Ukraine! People then say that they do not want to return home. And at the same time, Ukrainians are proud of themselves, their language and culture. They do not need to post advertisements "I Love Ukraine" as it is done here. They already love their country, and our children are ashamed that they cannot answer them in Belarusian. And propaganda says that there is war and devastation in Ukraine... In fact, our country is brought to destruction by the current government.

Everything is in mess here that cannot be solved by the authority.